ASEAN Discussion Thread

[Emperio Maharlika]

Hey guys, its the nation that started the Philippine Discussion Thread almost 4 years ago.
Again, title says it all.

I think that now that 2020's really this tumultuous (Corona-chan spreading her love, Duterte's antics, various natural disasters), while scaring us or even disillusioning some of us at the very least, hopefully this can be a thread where ASEAN NSers (and NSers from others regions too!) can interact with each other and have some fun talking about their own experiences from their own countries that they call home.

Enjoy!

[Valentine Z]

From Burma, now in Singapore. Somehow... Despite the geographical factors of Burma being nearer to China, I have not heard of a lot of cases in Burma, as compared to Singapore.

One could say tourism factor in Singapore, but I will say that it's mostly because Burma doesn't really go too strict with the disease / virus measures.

Either thought is a terrifying one to me, because I'm really hoping for this whole thing to blow over, and it doesn't help that Singaporeans are stereotypically (and mostly true) paranoid beyond belief - Buying in excessive bulk, and to the point of making their own sanitisers... The hell?

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Here's something the poll limit of 10 is actually right for. I did not vote though.

[Coryanhafflaruda]

I'm from Philiphines here, it's amazing to see a lot of NS users being Filipino's nowadays

[Region of Dwipantara]

From Burma, now in Singapore. Somehow... Despite the geographical factors of Burma being nearer to China, I have not heard of a lot of cases in Burma, as compared to Singapore.

One could say tourism factor in Singapore, but I will say that it's mostly because Burma doesn't really go too strict with the disease / virus measures.

Either thought is a terrifying one to me, because I'm really hoping for this whole thing to blow over, and it doesn't help that Singaporeans are stereotypically (and mostly true) paranoid beyond belief - Buying in excessive bulk, and to the point of making their own sanitisers... The hell?

That reminded me of a story from my friends' brother who lives in Singapore – the supermarket he visited are nearly empty of basic food needs, except a full rack of "Wuhan Dry Noodles" that were hilariously left untouched. Does it really feel apocalyptic there?

[Region of Dwipantara]

Here's something the poll limit of 10 is actually right for. I did not vote though.

(Cries in East Timorese)

[Valentine Z]

From Burma, now in Singapore. Somehow... Despite the geographical factors of Burma being nearer to China, I have not heard of a lot of cases in Burma, as compared to Singapore.

One could say tourism factor in Singapore, but I will say that it's mostly because Burma doesn't really go too strict with the disease / virus measures.

Either thought is a terrifying one to me, because I'm really hoping for this whole thing to blow over, and it doesn't help that Singaporeans are stereotypically (and mostly true) paranoid beyond belief - Buying in excessive bulk, and to the point of making their own sanitisers... The hell?

That reminded me of a story from my friends' brother who lives in Singapore – the supermarket he visited are nearly empty of basic food needs, except a full rack of "Wuhan Dry Noodles" that were hilariously left untouched. Does it really feel apocalyptic there?

Oh yeah, without a doubt! So... let me give you one example! ><

Our neighborhood has a local supermarket. It is more like a general store, but bigger. On an average day, you have a good 20-40 bags of rice there, right? Along with many other stocks and stuff. Then last week, my family and I went out to stock up a little - not too much, mind you, but just as a knee-jerk reaction to supply for a good 1-2 weeks - and ALL the bags of rice are gone! Only left with the types of rice that people don't usually eat, or any other miscellaneous stuff.

Same thing applies for sanitizers and soap like I said. People in long queues buying everything they can.

This is not a flipping zombie apocalypse, guys! You can still buy within your means and maybe just stock up 3-4 bottles of soap, not bloody 20!

---

People in Burma are still very, very relaxed. I'm not sure of the exact situation, but the Burmese don't seem to be in any indication of an elevated danger, which is weird given the geographical factor as I have said earlier.

[Toishima]

From Burma, now in Singapore. Somehow... Despite the geographical factors of Burma being nearer to China, I have not heard of a lot of cases in Burma, as compared to Singapore.

One could say tourism factor in Singapore, but I will say that it's mostly because Burma doesn't really go too strict with the disease / virus measures.

Either thought is a terrifying one to me, because I'm really hoping for this whole thing to blow over, and it doesn't help that Singaporeans are stereotypically (and mostly true) paranoid beyond belief - Buying in excessive bulk, and to the point of making their own sanitisers... The hell?

That reminded me of a story from my friends' brother who lives in Singapore – the supermarket he visited are nearly empty of basic food needs, except a full rack of "Wuhan Dry Noodles" that were hilariously left untouched. Does it really feel apocalyptic there?

Yes. The recent hoarding trend was increasingly annoying and stupid, though as of recent trips to the supermarket (at least in my area) this hoarding of necessities seems to have abated. People are still buying a fuckton of facemasks though.

[Emperio Maharlika]

Here's something the poll limit of 10 is actually right for. I did not vote though.

(Cries in East Timorese)

> tfw observer state

[Valentine Z]

Yes. The recent hoarding trend was increasingly annoying and stupid, though as of recent trips to the supermarket (at least in my area) this hoarding of necessities seems to have abated. People are still buying a fuckton of facemasks though.

Someone tried to buy > 800 kg of food online from Red Mart...

---

I hope you don't mind or this doesn't veer into off-topic for this thread. I know there's a separate virus thread, but just want to say it out here too, given the ASEAN context. ^^;

Thailand also seems to be hit with it, like many others.

[Emperio Maharlika]

From Burma, now in Singapore. Somehow... Despite the geographical factors of Burma being nearer to China, I have not heard of a lot of cases in Burma, as compared to Singapore.

One could say tourism factor in Singapore, but I will say that it's mostly because Burma doesn't really go too strict with the disease / virus measures.

Either thought is a terrifying one to me, because I'm really hoping for this whole thing to blow over, and it doesn't help that Singaporeans are stereotypically (and mostly true) paranoid beyond belief - Buying in excessive bulk, and to the point of making their own sanitisers... The hell?

Singapore being a dense country with huge tourist flows makes it all too easy for nCov-19 to spread.
I predict that it'll be a long while before it blows over. Think 18 months.

Anyway, speaking of corona-chan, how's the situation for the rest of ASEAN?

[New Cassadland]

Greetings to you all from indonesia,and indonesia is doing fine with corona - chan although there was some students in wuhan...

[New Cassadland]

And facemasks are in trend in my school right now...

[Toishima]

Someone tried to buy > 800 kg of food online from Red Mart...

Honestly I'm not very concerned with the virus itself. We've done SARS before and we'll likely be able to do it again, and better. Preventive measures and such are already in place and I have faith in the government's ability to solve the virus issue. What I'm more worried about is this sort of mass hysteria and social media-fuelled panic causing trouble in society and inconveniences for other people. The above-mentioned Redmart issue is an example - Redmart is sort of like a delivery grocery store service, and trying to order 800kg of stuff from such a service is ridiculous and jams resources that others probably need more than you. Racial prejudices and tensions are appearing due to the national origin of the virus too.

The country's image overseas is being damaged by this sort of behaviour too, as exemplified by this very thread!

EDIT: Though perhaps I'll stop discussing this here - as mentioned there is apparently a Corona Thread (though I didn't know since I rarely use NSG); I do not intend to derail this thread into Corona II.

[Region of Dwipantara]

Luckily, so far Indonesia has 0 confirmed cases, thank goodness. Clearly this is because of the authorities who are dilligent and vigilant in mitigating the virus.

Of course, then Harvard have this to say:

A study by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health suggested that Indonesia should have confirmed cases of the viral outbreak already, considering the high air-travel volume from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak in China, to the country.

And

Companies should expect supply chain disruptions in countries with few or no cases, and consider canceling meetings and conferences throughout Southeast Asia, said Sofia Nazalya, an Asia analyst at global risk advisory firm Verisk Maplecroft. The company puts Indonesia and Cambodia in the “extreme risk” category based on its ability to respond to a pandemic.

“We expect that existing coronavirus cases in Indonesia are currently going undetected,” Nazalya said. “Close travel links between Indonesia and China as well as other neighboring countries where cases have been reported, and the highly infectious nature of the virus, make the chance of zero-infection remote.”

While the New York Times said:

Experts find it astonishing that Indonesia has yet to announce a case despite hosting some 5,000 Chinese tourists a day in Bali before halting flights last week.

For now, Indonesia's WHO respresentative have asserted that the govt is doing sufficient efforts to stop transmission into Indonesian territories because, considering the readiness of our healthcare and security system, we'll be screwed. Wish us luck

[Emperio Maharlika]

Direct discussion on corona-matters aside then, correct me if i'm wrong but economically, I believe that the regional economy may be quite hard-hit in the 2020s due to rising economic nationalism globally.
Say what would you will about China but due to the trade war and yes, the recent NCov-19, its economy may take a hard hit. And knowing that most if not all of the members of ASEAN depend a lot on China as a trading partner... yeah.

Not even two months in and this possibility stands on the horizon. gotta love 2020 for me.

[Region of Dwipantara]

Duterte's antics

Ah, yeah, how's he going? ASEAN desperately needs unity if we are to fend off "northern threats" from the South China Sea. With Vietnam sitting as chairman, it looks like we're gonna have a great shot. So Duterte dumping the VFA defense agreement with the US seemed like a dumb move.

[Valentine Z]

Yeah, that too is a worry. The virus thing aside, it also has a consequential follow-up where the business and economic outputs are sort of slowing down. It's not a complete halt, but I feel like a good and no-longer-negligible percentage of businesses are working either on a skeleton crew, or has too many leaves and absentees.

The tourism industry is also affected for Singapore, from what I heard.

----

All these Corona Virus aside... I hope that we will pull through this one! The Burmese politics, on the other hand, are the same old, same old. I really wish and hope that they would come to their senses and stop killing or genociding.

[New Cassadland]

Yeah, that too is a worry. The virus thing aside, it also has a consequential follow-up where the business and economic outputs are sort of slowing down. It's not a complete halt, but I feel like a good and no-longer-negligible percentage of businesses are working either on a skeleton crew, or has too many leaves and absentees.

The tourism industry is also affected for Singapore, from what I heard.

----

All these Corona Virus aside... I hope that we will pull through this one! The Burmese politics, on the other hand, are the same old, same old. I really wish and hope that they would come to their senses and stop killing or genociding.

I haven't heard burma for a long time,they are a shy country

[Valentine Z]

I haven't heard burma for a long time,they are a shy country

We usually keep it to ourselves for the most parts, not too big on the international ground, perhaps apart from Aung San Suu Kyi. Other than that... yeah, this genocidal bullshit is something I hope to see it put to an end!

Everyone is concerned at this point, but the military is not giving a damn... Worrying.

[Somehow Related to Rarity]

From Burma, now in Singapore. Somehow... Despite the geographical factors of Burma being nearer to China, I have not heard of a lot of cases in Burma, as compared to Singapore.

One could say tourism factor in Singapore, but I will say that it's mostly because Burma doesn't really go too strict with the disease / virus measures.

Either thought is a terrifying one to me, because I'm really hoping for this whole thing to blow over, and it doesn't help that Singaporeans are stereotypically (and mostly true) paranoid beyond belief - Buying in excessive bulk, and to the point of making their own sanitisers... The hell?

Whoa. My parents are frm Myanmar but I'm singaporean
And if you're asking my parents are Karens.
No, not THAT Karen, the Karen tribe.

[Region of Dwipantara]

Direct discussion on corona-matters aside then, correct me if i'm wrong but economically, I believe that the regional economy may be quite hard-hit in the 2020s due to rising economic nationalism globally.
Say what would you will about China but due to the trade war and yes, the recent NCov-19, its economy may take a hard hit. And knowing that most if not all of the members of ASEAN depend a lot on China as a trading partner... yeah.

Not even two months in and this possibility stands on the horizon. gotta love 2020 for me.

A double kicker. Jokowi's government have maintained close relationship with China to kickstart infrastructure and economic growth, something exploited tirelessly by the racist Islamist-aligned opposition. There's even an "omnibus law" in the making, aimed to increase foreign investment, where the central government would seize many control over provinces' rights of investment permits and labor rights. Chinese slowdown will be horrendous.

[Valentine Z]

Whoa. My parents are frm Myanmar but I'm singaporean
And if you're asking my parents are Karens.
No, not THAT Karen, the Karen tribe.

Gasp, goodness gracious! So nice to meet you, haha!

Yeah, I know about the Karen tribe. I'm just so... so happy because it's rare to see another Burmese or Myanmarnese (a broader term for all demographics, not just for Yangon / Barma people) here on NS.

Hope you are doing fine! ^^

[Somehow Related to Rarity]

Whoa. My parents are frm Myanmar but I'm singaporean
And if you're asking my parents are Karens.
No, not THAT Karen, the Karen tribe.

Gasp, goodness gracious! So nice to meet you, haha!

Yeah, I know about the Karen tribe. I'm just so... so happy because it's rare to see another Burmese or Myanmarnese (a broader term for all demographics, not just for Yangon / Barma people) here on NS.

Hope you are doing fine! ^^

Doing fine yo

[Emperio Maharlika]

snip

A double kicker. Jokowi's government have maintained close relationship with China to kickstart infrastructure and economic growth, something exploited tirelessly by the racist Islamist-aligned opposition. There's even an "omnibus law" in the making, aimed to increase foreign investment, where the central government would seize many control over provinces' rights of investment permits and labor rights. Chinese slowdown will be horrendous.

Well hopefully a potential economic slowdown in Indonesia won't create results as bad as '98 during the AFC. Learning about the resulting public unrest terrified me.

Ah, yeah, how's he going? ASEAN desperately needs unity if we are to fend off "northern threats" from the South China Sea. With Vietnam sitting as chairman, it looks like we're gonna have a great shot. So Duterte dumping the VFA defense agreement with the US seemed like a dumb move.

At this point the Philippines is just waiting for his term to end in 2022. That is, if he's willing to end his 6-year term.

Gasp, goodness gracious! So nice to meet you, haha!

side note that emoticon looks like a virus